WASHINGTON, 1 January 2008 — Current polls show Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina tied for the lead in Iowa. They are also in a tight race in New Hampshire, where voters are said to be influenced by Iowa’s results. The Iowa caucuses will be Thursday, and New Hampshire’s primaries are just five days later.
The candidates, meanwhile, are trying to paint their opponents as inadequate for the challenges facing the nation. Edwards continued his attack against Obama, suggesting that he was too “nice” to fight and win against special interests and big corporations.
“You can beat these people if you’re tough enough, if you’re smart enough, if you’ve got the fight inside you,” Edwards said at a high school in Carroll, Iowa. “You can’t nice them to death. You try and nice them to death, they’ll trample all over you.” On a television talk show on Sunday to sum up his message to Iowa caucus voters, Obama acknowledged that the criticism about his lack of experience in Washington could be weighing on the minds of some voters.
“That may have some effect, but ultimately, I’m putting my faith in the people of Iowa and the people of America that they want something better,” Obama said on Sunday’s NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Playing the experience card, Hillary Clinton told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that from 1993-2001 she was “intimately involved in so much that went on in the White House, here at home, and around the world.” While she was one of the most influential presidential wives in history, Hillary’s assertion of experience has been questioned, as she did not attend National Security Council meetings, did not receive the presidential daily briefing on terrorism and other threats, and did not have top-level security clearance.
But she is married to one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party, Bill Clinton, and his return to the White House as first spouse would certainly break new ground.
Although Hillary has said that her husband will have no role in her Cabinet, many scoff at her assertions that she could keep him out of her politics. “I think it’s a complete fantasy,” Edwards said with a laugh on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Edwards is said to be viewed by many in the Clinton campaign as the guy who just might be her last, best hope to stop Barack Obama in the early primary states.
“Hillary needs a viable John Edwards — her worst-case scenario is that Obama takes first place and Edwards comes in third here,” University of Iowa pollster David Redlawski told reporters. “If Edwards falls into irrelevance, that really hurts her because he’s splitting the vote against her.”
In the tight Republican contest in Iowa, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee narrowly leads former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who slipped by one point to trail 29 percent to 27 percent. Sen. John McCain of Arizona gained two points but remains at a distant third at 13 percent.
The tone of the already nasty Republican campaign for the presidential nomination took an even sharper edge yesterday morning as Huckabee accused rival Romney of waging a “dishonest” campaign.
“Mitt Romney is running a very desperate and, frankly, a dishonest campaign,” Huckabee said on NBC’s morning “Meet the Press,” four days ahead of Iowa balloting that will be the first of the 2008 presidential race. “He’s attacked me. . . . When Mitt Romney went after the integrity of John McCain, he stepped across a line.”
Three Republicans battle for fourth place, with former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson at eight percent and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Texas Rep. Ron Paul at seven percent.
Most of the top candidates in both parties have been crisscrossing Iowa for days in a late hunt for support that could give them an edge and momentum for later contests.
